This invention relates generally to toys and games for pets and specifically those which are suited for entertaining and exercising cats.
A number of cat toys and games have been suggested for entertaining and exercising cats and for providing enjoyment to their owners upon watching them play with such toys and games. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,403 to Gommel discloses a play toy for felines, dogs and children which includes a hollow housing having a removable top assembly (or cover) with a hole therein and a main body portion with a side hole therein. A small spherical toy, or ball, is inserted into the housing through either of the openings. A cat is expected to lift the housing so that the ball rolls to eventually register with one of the holes and falls out. It is hoped that the cat will then put the ball back into the housing. Although the toy of Gommel has many benefits and could provide cats with playful fun, it has the disadvantage that, in many cases, it requires human intervention to keep a game going. Also, this toy can be moved from place to place which could contribute to a disorderly house. Yet another difficulty with the toy of Gommel is that, because of its structure, it is often necessary for a human to become overly involved in order to initiate a game. Similarly, the ball can "hide" in areas within the housing that are not readily seen by the cat, so that a cat can lose interest.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,059 to Rice describes another amusement device for cats which includes a sidewall having a closed bottom and an open top, the top being covered by a non-rigid fabric which is stretched across it. The nonrigid fabric has one or more cut-out portions adjacent the sidewall and a middle opening of a size to permit insertion of a cat's paw therethrough. This amusement device appears to be sufficiently heavy and shaped such that it would be difficult for a cat to move. A ping pong ball is placed through one of the holes and cats reach through the holes to try to get the ball. Cats can push the ball through the center slit from under the fabric. Thus, a cat can get the ball. Rice writes that:
The typical cat is instantly intrigued--it can hear the ball rolling around inside the box 3 and will dive and pounce on the ball as it appears in the corner holes 1. PA2 The invention is not merely a toy, but appeals to the cat's strategic nature in a formalized game of cat and mouse. The cat will attempt to "stalk" the ball from under the fabric or pounce on the ball as it appears in the corners. It provides exercise and entertainment for the animal, while owners are amused by the cat's antics as it stalks its prey.
Although Rice's amusement device has many benefits over the toy of Gommel, it still retains some of the disadvantages in that it requires, from time to time, human intervention to keep a game going. Further, it also appears that the amusement device of Rice would require an undue amount of help from a human to get a cat interested in it because there are not enough points at which the cat can see the ball rolling in an .interior thereof ("The cat only sees the ball when it rolls into a corner."). This disadvantage might also lead to a cat prematurely losing interest in Rice's device. Yet another difficulty with both the Rice amusement device and the toy of Gommel is that they appear to employ unduly light-in-weight balls which cannot develop sufficient momentum to keep them moving for long periods of time when no force is applied thereto. Further, such balls will not make sufficient noise to keep a cat's interest. Another difficulty with the devices of both of these patents is that they are difficult to manufacture and cannot be made with standard, off-the-shelf materials. The device of Rice, for example, has many different parts and it would be difficult to properly assemble its stretched non-rigid fabric to its sidewall in a standard manner. Also, the devices of these patents are not sufficiently aesthetically pleasing.
French patent (467,437) describes a dog bath which is somewhat similar in structure to the amusement device of Rice. In addition to the deficiencies described for the Rice device, the device of the french patent appears to be too deep in structure to allow a cat (or other animal) easy access to any ball placed in a housing thereof.
It is an object of this invention to provide a cat game which cannot be easily moved about in a house but which will entertain and exercise a cat for hours with no intervention from a human.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a cat game which easily catches the interest of a cat and entices the cat to play with it, with a minimum of human intervention.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a cat game which provides cats with a great deal of sound and sight stimulation so as to continually intrigue them, thereby providing a continuous enticement to the cats.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a cat game which is durable, pleasing to look at, can be easily mass produced of readily obtainable parts, and which is, therefore, relatively inexpensive to manufacture.